


Bulletin Christmas Party

by josiesbar



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Karedevil Week, Romance, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josiesbar/pseuds/josiesbar
Summary: Karen brings Matt as her date to the Bulletin Christmas Party.





	Bulletin Christmas Party

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Meinhiding](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meinhiding/gifts).



> From Tumblr prompt: "They get mistaken for a couple."

Karen had been dreading the office Christmas party. While she got along okay with just about everyone at the paper, she couldn’t really say she had friends there.

So she was grateful when Matt agreed to go along as her date. Since he had been back, their friendship had grown stronger again, even if Karen still wanted to avoid anything romantic between them. The last thing she wanted was to get hurt again.

Still, Karen’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Matt in his nice new suit. She wondered if Matt could hear it; he probably could. Sometimes knowing some of the things Matt could sense made her feel self-conscious.

“Hey,” Matt said as he got in Karen’s car.

“Hey,” Karen said back. She couldn’t stop herself from staring at him for a few moments. Then she cleared her throat and pulled away from the curb. “So, thank you again for coming.”

Matt smiled. “How could I pass up a party with all of the reporters at the Bulletin? I finally get a chance to meet everyone you work with.”

Karen laughed. “It probably won’t be too exciting. It’s just at a banquet hall, and it’s catered. There is dancing, though. Of course, Ellison’s cousin is the DJ, and he’s not really very good at it, but he’s free. It’s an easy place for them to save money.”

“I can’t wait to see what songs he plays,” Matt said.

“Well, he does like ‘90s music, so that’s right up your alley,” Karen said.

“Can’t go wrong with ‘90s music,” Matt said.

“I think you’re about to be proven wrong,” Karen said.

Matt laughed. “Well, no matter what, I’m sure I’ll have a good time.”

“Oh yeah? Why is that?” 

“Because I’ll be with you,” Matt said softly.

Karen’s heart was racing again, and the same self-conscious feeling that Matt could hear it came up. She turned on the radio and turned to a ‘90s hits station.

“I figure we should be mentally prepared for the music,” Karen said. 

It didn’t take them too long to get there. They could have taken a cab, but Karen wanted to drive since it gave her one more reason not to drink much. She didn’t want to end up looking like an idiot in front of her colleagues at the Bulletin. It was very different than going out to Josie’s with Matt and Foggy back in their Nelson and Murdock days.

Karen found a parking spot and then took Matt’s arm to walk up to the banquet hall.

There was a Christmas tree at the edge of the hall and lights around the room, but it wasn’t too fancy, which was okay with Karen.

Ellison and his wife walked up to Karen and Matt. “Hi Karen. I’m glad you didn’t find a way to avoid it.” He turned to Matt. “And you must be Matt Murdock.”

Ellison shook Matt’s hand and introduced his wife, who Karen had met a couple of times.

“Yes, it’s nice to finally meet you, Ellison,” Matt said.

“Oh, does Karen talk about me a lot? I’m not as horrible as she says, I swear.”

They all laughed.

“She mostly talks about how much she loves her job,” Matt said.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Ellison said. “We have to make the rounds. We’re sitting over at the table if you two want to sit by us.” Ellison pointed at a table at the other side of the room.

“Sure,” Karen said, and she and Matt walked over to the table and sat down.

“Aren’t you going to get a drink?” Matt asked.

“Not yet, I don’t want to drink too much. Last year somebody from advertising ended up dancing on the table.”

Matt laughed. “Seriously?”

Karen laughed, too. “Yep. I definitely want to make sure to avoid that fate. Hard to face your coworkers the next day when they saw you dancing on a table the night before.”

They were still laughing as Ellison and his wife came over to the table.

“What’s so funny?” Ellison asked.

“I was just telling Matt about that woman from advertising who danced on a table last year.”

“Yeah, I noticed she didn’t come this year,” Ellison said.

“I really don’t blame her,” Karen said.

“There’s some appetizers over at that table,” Ellison said, pointing to the other side of the room. “Nothing too fancy, though. Don’t expect caviar.”

 “I’m okay with not having fish eggs,” Matt said.

The night went by surprisingly quickly. The food was better than Karen thought it would be, and she hadn’t had the chance to just sit and talk to Matt for this long since she had found out he was still alive. They were usually talking about Fisk or just having a hurried conversation. She was realizing how much she missed just sitting and chatting with him. How much she missed that smile.

“So, Karen, Matt, how long have you been together?” Ellison’s wife asked.

Karen froze. “What? Oh, we’re not…we’re just friends.”

Matt just smiled and shook his head. Karen felt her face reddening.

“You know what?” Karen said. “I’m just going to head to the bathroom. Leave some desserts for me.”

Karen hustled over to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and asked herself why she had invited Matt to the Christmas Party. Was she just looking for a date so she didn’t have to go alone, or was she hoping for something more to happen?

If she was honest with herself, there was a part of her that was considering trying a relationship with Matt again, despite how it went last time. Things were different now, though, weren’t they? They were actually being honest with each other now. Maybe it was time to give it another chance.

Another reporter came into the restroom, so Karen headed back over to their table. Matt turned toward her when she sat down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Karen knew her heartbeat was probably giving her away, but she still wasn’t sure what she wanted to say yet, and either way, she wasn’t going to talk to Matt about this at a table full of her co-workers.

Before Matt could say anything, Ellison got up and gave his annual speech filled with sarcasm and occasionally with compliments for the staff. Then he introduced his cousin the DJ.

“Make sure to get out on the dance floor,” Ellison said. “Otherwise my cousin will never let me forget what a terrible DJing experience this was for him.”

As Ellison’s cousin started the music and a few people crept out onto the dance floor, Karen made a decision.

“Do you want to dance?” Karen asked Matt.

Matt smiled. “Sure.”

Karen took his hand, and they headed out onto the dance floor. The first few songs were faster pop songs.

“You know, he’s not so bad for a free DJ,” Matt said.

Karen laughed. “Yeah, it’s hard to complain too much when we’re not even paying him.”

Finally, a slower song came on, and Karen put her hand in Matt’s as they swayed back and forth to a love song.

“So, I was wondering if maybe you would want to go out for dinner sometime,” Karen said. “No place too fancy, though.”

Matt smiled again, this time bigger than the last. It was the happiest she had seen him look since she found out he was alive. “Yes, I would love to.”

Karen nodded. “So…we’ll just take it slow and see how it goes.”

They spent the rest of the night dancing together, both feeling hopeful for the future.

 


End file.
